They're Frackin' in California -- Nothing To Do With The Bakken Except Compare

Link here.

Zodiac Exploration Inc., Calgary, plans to apply a multistage frac to the Kreyenhagen formation in California’s San Joaquin basin in the third week in November, subject to equipment availability.

The company has successfully drilled a 2,647-ft horizontal wellbore in the Upper Kreyenhagen formation at its 1-10 well in Kings County and set a downhole liner assembly with packers and frac ports in preparation for the job. The lateral is an average vertical depth of 14,551 ft.

Effectively drilling the lateral at these depths and high pressure “is a key first step in proving the potential of the Upper Kreyenhagen formation, which is one of several primary plays identified on our acreage to date,” the company said.

The thickness of the source rock in this formation is 3,000 to 4,000 feet, compared to the Bakken, measured in 50 to 150 feet, I believe.

The total organic carbon (TOC) in this California formation averages about 3 percent with as much as 5.5 percent in some areas. The TOC in the Bakken averages about 11 percent.

As noted, the Tyler formation in North Dakota is upwards of a thousand feet thick in places and has a TOC of 10 percent in the upper Tyler shale and as high as 30 percent in the lower two shales in the Tyler.